President Lee Jae Myung said Saturday he survived a 2024 knife attack thanks to public support. He vowed to devote himself fully to the country after the civil rights commission overturned an earlier ruling on his medical airlift.
President Lee Jae Myung posted on social platform X that people had saved him from the terrorist attack, fabricated indictments by prosecutors and manipulated media coverage. "My life now belongs entirely to the people," he wrote. He added that he would devote his heart and all his strength to citizens until his last moment even if his body broke down.
Lee was stabbed in the neck on Jan. 2, 2024, while visiting Busan as opposition leader. He was airlifted from Pusan National University Hospital to Seoul National University Hospital for surgery. The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission had earlier ruled the airlift preferential treatment but reversed that finding on Friday.
An internal probe found the then deputy chief of the commission had exercised undue influence in the original decision. At the time of the attack, ousted former President Yoon Suk Yeol was in office.